Container closure containing a mix

ABSTRACT

A container closure to be attached to a liquid container around a container opening of a liquid container. The container closure includes a storage compartment which includes a mix, such as powder or concentrated liquid. The storage compartment includes a seal or a rotating member to seal the mix within the storage compartment. A plunger unseals the seal or the rotating member is rotated to allow the mix to be mixed with the liquid in a liquid container to flavor the liquid when the container closure is attached to the liquid container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a container closure. More specifically,this invention relates to a container closure having a mix for mixingwith liquid from a liquid container.

2. Background Information

Years ago, original Coke® was the only Coca-Cola® product that wasavailable and lime flavored sports drink was the only Gatorade® productthat was available. Today, Coca-Cola® and Gatorade® provide a wideassortment of flavored beverages. In addition, the number of flavoredbeverages from competitors has also increased. Thus, the single iceboxat a convenience store that only stored Coca Cola® products has beenreplaced by walls of refrigerators supplying a wide assortment ofbeverages. The number of beverages that a store can supply is limited tothe amount of space and particularly the amount of availablerefrigerated space. Thus, convenience stores typically provide only themore popular flavored beverages. A problem with this approach is that astore may lose business due to some consumers shopping somewhere elsefor a particular flavored beverage. Accordingly, there is a need forstores to provide a wider variety of beverages within the limited amountof available refrigerator space.

Similarly, there is typically limited storage space in an ice chest orcooler. For example, a family taking a long car trip may pack an icechest of beverages for the ride. The quantity and variety of beveragesis limited to the amount of space within the ice chest. Thus, there is aneed to store a wider variety of beverages within the limited amount ofavailable space within an ice chest.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention disclosed herein alleviates the drawbacksdescribed above in supplying a greater variety of beverages within alimited amount of available refrigerator space or ice chest space byproviding a novel container closure. The container closures of thepresent invention contain a mix to be mixed with the liquid in a liquidcontainer, thereby providing a flavored beverage. The liquid containerscan be stored within a refrigerator or ice chest and one or morecontainer closures can be stored outside of the refrigerator or icechest. Thus, a greater variety of beverages can be offered withouthaving to store each variety in the refrigerator or ice chest.

The container closure of the present invention is adapted to attach to aliquid container around or within a container opening. In a preferredembodiment, the container closure includes a body, a tip, an annularwall, a plunger, and a storage compartment. The annular wall extendscylindrically from the body and is adapted to slidingly receive the tip.The tip is moveable between a closed position and an open position. Thetip surrounds a tip opening which is adapted to slidingly receive theplunger. The plunger is moveable between a non-piercing position inwhich the plunger extends out through the tip opening and a piercingposition in which the plunger extends out through the storagecompartment. The storage compartment contains a mix for mixing withliquid in a liquid container. The mix can be a sport drink powder,cocoa, iced tea mix, soda syrup, powdered milk, formula, minerals,vitamins, etc. The liquid can be water, milk, iced tea, carbonatedwater, etc.

In another embodiment, the plunger is slidingly engaged within a stem.The annular opening surrounds the stem. The annular wall surrounds theannular opening and is spaced from the stem by one or more bridgingelements. The annular opening provides a path for fluids to pass throughthe container closure to the tip opening. The tip, the plunger and thestem are adapted to seal the upper end of the container closure when thetip is in the closed position.

In another embodiment, a rotating member resides in the storagecompartment. The rotating member includes one or more channels and thestorage compartment includes corresponding openings. In a rotatingmember can be a sealed position in which the mix is sealed in thestorage compartment or can be in an aligned or mixing position in whichthe mix is able to interact with the liquid in the liquid container thusflavoring the liquid. An arm attached to the rotating member is used torotate the rotating member between the sealed position and the alignedposition.

In yet another embodiment, the container closure further includes acover or dust cover releaseably attached to the container closure. Theheight of the cover is sufficient to allow the cover to be secured tothe container closure and cover both the tip and plunger when theplunger is in a non-piercing position. The cover can include a pluralityof vertical gripping ribs positioned on the outer cylindrical portion ofthe cover to assist in the rotation of the cover. Similarly, the bodycan also include a plurality of vertically positioned gripping ribspositioned on the outer cylindrical portion of the body to assist in therotation of the container closure.

The container closure of the present invention enables a conveniencestore to stock liquid containers, such as water and milk, in arefrigerator and stock the container closures separately therebyconserving refrigerator space for beverages that cannot be flavoredusing the container closures. As a result, a convenience store is ableto stock a larger variety of flavored beverages in a limited amount ofrefrigerator space. Similarly, the container closures of the presentinvention enable a person to stock liquid containers in an ice chest andstock the container closures separately, thereby conserving space withinthe ice chest. As a result, the ice chest can stocked to provide alarger of variety of flavored beverages in a limited space within theice chest.

The general beneficial effects described above apply generally to eachof the exemplary descriptions and characterizations of the devices andmechanisms disclosed herein. The specific structures through which thesebenefits are delivered will be described in detail herein below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an upper perspective view of an exemplary container closurehaving a plunger in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a lower perspective view of an exemplary container closurehaving a plunger in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of an exemplary container closure in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of an exemplary container closure inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 a is a perspective view of an exemplary container closure withthe plunger in a non-piercing position in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 5 b is a perspective view of an exemplary container closure withthe plunger in a piercing position in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary container closureattached to a liquid container with the plunger in the piercing positionin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 a is a perspective view of the upper section of an exemplarycontainer closure having a rotating storage container in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 b is a perspective view of the lower section of an exemplarycontainer closure having a rotating storage container in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an exemplary container closure having arotating member in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary container closureattached to a liquid container with the rotating storage compartment ina mixing position in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale, andsome features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details ofparticular components. Therefore, specific structural and functionaldetails disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, butmerely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the presentinvention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, perspective views of an exemplary containerclosure in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention areillustrated. As shown, the container closure 10 includes a body 12, atip 14, an annular wall 16, a plunger 18, and a storage compartment 20.In the preferred embodiment, the body 12 includes a plurality ofvertically positioned gripping ribs 44 as known in the art. The grippingribs are positioned on the outer cylindrical portion of the body 12 toassist in the rotation of the container closure 10. The annular wall 16extends cylindrically from the body 12 and is adapted to slidinglyreceive the tip 14. The tip 14 is moveable between a closed position andan open position as known in the art. The tip 14 includes a tip opening30 which is sealed when the tip 14 is in the closed position, and whichis in fluid communication with an annular opening 32 (described infurther detail below) when the tip 14 is in the open position. Theannular opening 32 is in fluid communication with the storagecompartment 20. The tip 14 surrounds a tip opening 30 designed toslidingly receive the plunger 18. The plunger 18 is moveable between anon-piercing position in which the plunger 18 extends out through thetip opening 30 and a piercing position in which the plunger 18 unsealsthe seal and extends out through the storage compartment 20.

The storage compartment 20 contains a mix 22 for mixing with liquid in aliquid container. The storage compartment 20 can be attached to or partof the annular wall 16 or can be attached to or part of the body 12. Thesize and shape of the storage compartment can vary as well. In thepreferred embodiment, the storage compartment 20 is cylindrical in shapeand is designed to fit within the container opening of a liquidcontainer. The storage compartment 20 is sealed at the upper end whenthe tip 14 is in the closed position. A seal 38 is attached to the lowerend of the storage compartment 20 as known in the art and discussed infurther detail below.

In a preferred embodiment, the body 12 includes an upwardly extendingannular ring 24 surrounding and radially spaced from the annular wall16. The annular ring 24 includes a groove 26 configured for securing acover or dust cover 28. The undercut 26 is configured to interact withan annular ring (not shown) on the cover 28 to secure the cover 28 tothe container closure 10. In alternate embodiments, the cover 28 issecured to the container closure 10 using means known in the art. Theheight of the cover 28 is sufficient to allow the cover 28 to be securedto the container closure 10 and cover the tip 14 and the plunger 18 withthe plunger 18 in a non-piercing position. In the preferred embodiment,the cover 28 includes a plurality of vertical gripping ribs 44 as knownin the art. The gripping ribs 44 are positioned on the outer cylindricalportion of the cover 28 to assist in the rotation of the cover 28.

Referring to FIG. 3, a top view of an exemplary container closure,without a cover, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention is illustrated. As shown, the tip 14 receives the plunger 18.The tip 14 resides on the annular wall 16 which is attached to the body12.

Referring to FIG. 4, a cross sectional view of an exemplary containerclosure in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. The cross sectional view is at about the at about the annularwall 16 of FIG. 1. As shown, the stem 34 is surrounded by the annularopening 32. The annular wall 16 surrounds the annular opening 32 and isspaced from the stem 34 by one or more bridging elements 36. The annularopening 32 provides a path for fluids to pass through the containerclosure 10 to the tip opening 30. The tip 14, the plunger 18 and thestem 34 are adapted to seal the upper end of the container closure 10when the tip 14 is in the closed position. In an alternate embodiment,the body 12 does not include a stem 34 or bridging elements 36. In thisembodiment, the tip 14 and the plunger 18 are adapted to seal the upperend of the container closure 10 when the tip 14 is in the closedposition.

Referring to FIG. 5A and 5B, exemplary container closures with the sealin the sealed position and the seal in the unsealed position,respectively, in accordance with an embodiment of the present inventionare illustrated. As shown in FIG. 5A, the seal 38 is adapted to seal thelower end of the storage compartment 20 when the seal 38 is intact. Asshown in FIG. 5B, the seal is adapted to allow for fluid communicationbetween the storage compartment 20 and the liquid container once theseal 38 is unsealed by the plunger 18, e.g., broken, pierced or moved.The seal 38 can consist of a thin foil, plastic or other material knownin the art. The mix 22 stored in the storage compartment 20 can include,but is not limited to, powdered mix and concentrated liquid. Examples ofmixes 22 can include sport drink powder, cocoa, iced tea mix, sodasyrup, powdered milk, formula, minerals, vitamins, etc.

Referring to FIG. 6, a cross-sectional view of an exemplary containerclosure attached to a liquid container with the plunger in the piercingposition in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention isillustrated. As shown, the tip 14 is in the closed position with the topend of the plunger 18 being substantially flush with the top surface ofthe tip 14. The bottom end of the plunger 18 is adapted to unseal theseal 38 once pressure is applied to the top end of the plunger 18.Pressure on the top end of the plunger 18 causes the plunger 18 to slidedownwardly and unseal the seal 38 at the lower end of the storagecompartment 20. In a preferred embodiment, the plunger 18 includes oneor more stop elements (not shown) adapted to stop the plunger 18 at adesired position, e.g., where the plunger 18 is substantially flush withthe top surface of the tip 14. Once the seal 38 is pierced, the mix 22in the storage compartment can be in fluid communication with the liquid40 in the liquid container 42, thus causing the mix 22 and the liquid 40to interact. The liquid 40 can include, but is not limited to, water,milk, iced tea, carbonated water, etc.

To use the container closure 10 of the present invention, a containerclosure 10 is attached to a liquid container 42 using means known in theart. For example, the body 12 of the container closure 10 includes slotswhich mate with grooves on the liquid container 42 when the containerclosure 10 is screwed onto the liquid container 42. Once the cover 28 isremoved from the container closure 10, pressure is applied to theplunger 18 to slide the plunger 18 downward piercing the seal 38 on thebottom of the storage compartment 20 thus allowing the mix 22 and theliquid 40 to flavor the beverage. If necessary, the consumer would thenshake the liquid container 42 having the attached container closure 10to mix or combine the liquid 40 with the mix 22. To drink the beverage,the tip 14 is moved into the open position which allows the liquid toflow from the liquid container 42, through the container closure and outthrough the tip opening 30 when the liquid container 42 is sufficientlytilted.

In another embodiment, not shown, the plunger can be stationary with thestorage compartment being moved between a non-piercing position and apiercing position. In this embodiment, the storage compartment isconnected to the tip thus allowing the seal on the storage compartmentto be unsealed, e.g., broken, pierced, or moved, when the tip is movedupward towards the open position, thus allowing fluid communicationbetween the storage compartment 20 and the liquid container 42.

Referring to FIGS. 7 a and 7 b, an exemplary container closure having arotating member in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention is illustrated. As shown, the body 12 includes a slot 56 inwhich an arm 50 extends from the slot 56. The arm 50 moves between asealed position in which the mix 22 is sealed within the storagecompartment 20 and a mixing position or aligned position in which themix 22 mixes with liquid 40 in the liquid container 42. Referring toFIG. 8, a perspective view of an exemplary container closure having arotating member in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention is illustrated. As shown, the storage container 20 resideswithin the rotating member 48. The bottom of the storage container 20includes one or more channels 52 and the bottom of the rotating member48 includes one or more corresponding openings 54. The channels 52 andopenings 54 are positioned such that when the rotating member 48 is in asealing position, the channels 52 and openings 54 are not aligned thusthe mix 22 is sealed within the storage compartment 20 and when therotating member 48 is in a mixing or aligned position, the channels 52and openings 54 are aligned thus allowing the mix 22 to be mixed withthe liquid 40 in a liquid container 42. The arm 50 is used to move orrotate the rotating member 48, thus aligning the channels 52 and theopenings 54. In a preferred embodiment, initially, the arm 50 is securedin the sealed position using means as known in the art. In alternateembodiments, the arm 50 can be a tab, a dial, or any other element thatcan move or rotate the rotating member 48.

Referring to FIG. 9, a cross-sectional view of an exemplary containerclosure attached to a liquid container with the rotating storagecompartment in an aligned position or mixing position in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the arm 50 is inaligned position or mixing position, thus allowing the mix 22 tointeract with the liquid 40 in the liquid container 42.

To use the container closure 10 of the present invention, a containerclosure 10 is attached to a liquid container 42 using means known in theart. For example, the body 12 of the container closure 10 includes slotswhich mate with grooves on the liquid container 42 when the containerclosure 10 is screwed onto the liquid container 42. The arm 50 is movedinto the mixing position, thus allowing the mix 22 and the liquid 40 toflavor the beverage. If necessary, the consumer would then shake theliquid container 42 having the attached container closure 10 to mix orcombine the liquid 40 with the mix 22. To drink the beverage, the tip 14is moved into the open position which allows the liquid to flow from theliquid container 42, through the container closure and out through thetip opening 30 when the liquid container 42 is sufficiently tilted.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated indetail, it is to be clearly understood that the same is by way ofillustration and example only, and is not to be taken as a limitation.The spirit and scope of the present invention are to be limited only bythe terms of any claims presented hereafter.

Industrial Applicability

The present invention finds applicability in the beverage community, andmore specifically in container closures for liquid containers. Thecontainer closures contain a storage compartment having a flavoring mixto be mixed with the liquid within the liquid container thus providing aflavored beverage.

1. A container closure adapted to attach to a liquid container at acontainer opening, the container closure comprising: a body; an annularwall extending from the body and surrounding an annular opening; a tipreceived on the annular wall and moveable between a closed positionsealing an upper end of the container closure and an open position; astorage compartment adapted to store a mix; a seal adapted to seal alower end of the storage compartment in a sealed position; and a plungeradapted to unseal the seal thereby allowing interaction between the mixand liquid in the liquid container when the container closure isattached to a liquid container with the container closure adapted toallow the liquid to pass through the storage compartment and passthrough the annular opening.
 2. The container closure of claim 1 whereinthe plunger moves between a non-piercing position in which the sealremains intact and a piercing position in which the plunger unseals theseal thereby allowing interaction between the mix and the liquid in thebeverage container when the container is attached to a liquid container.3. The container closure of claim 2 wherein the tip further comprises atip opening wherein the plunger extends from the tip opening when theplunger is in a non-piercing position.
 4. The container closure of claim1 further comprising a stem surrounded by the annular opening and atleast one bridging element connecting the stem and the annular wall. 5.The container closure of claim 1 wherein the storage compartment isattached to the body.
 6. The container closure of claim 1 wherein thestorage compartment is attached to the annular wall.
 7. The containerclosure of claim 1 further comprising a mix stored in the storagecompartment.
 8. The container closure of claim 7 wherein the mix isselected from the group consisting of a powder mix and a concentratedliquid.
 9. The container closure of claim 1 further comprising a coverreleasable attached to the container closure.
 10. A beverage containercomprising: a liquid container adapted to store a liquid and comprisinga container opening; and a container closure adapted to attach to theliquid container around the container opening, the container closurecomprising: a body; an annular wall extending from the body andsurrounding an annular opening; a tip received on the annular wall andmoveable between a closed position sealing an upper end of the containerclosure and an open position; a storage compartment adapted to store amix; a seal adapted to seal a lower end of the storage compartment in asealed position; and a plunger adapted to unseal the seal therebyallowing interaction between the mix and liquid in the liquid containerwhen the container closure is attached to a liquid container with thecontainer closure adapted to allow the liquid to pass through thestorage compartment and pass through the annular opening.
 11. Thebeverage container of claim 10 wherein the plunger moves between anon-piercing position in which the seal remains intact and a piercingposition in which the plunger unseals the seal thereby allowinginteraction between the mix and the liquid in the beverage containerwhen the container is attached to a liquid container.
 12. The beveragecontainer of claim 11 wherein the tip further comprises a tip openingwherein the plunger extends from the tip opening when the plunger is ina non-piercing position.
 13. The beverage container of claim 10 furthercomprising a mix stored in the storage compartment.
 14. The beveragecontainer of claim 13 wherein the mix is selected from the groupconsisting of a powder mix and a concentrated liquid.
 15. The beveragecontainer of claim 14 further comprising a liquid stored in the liquidcontainer.
 16. The beverage container of claim 10 wherein the liquid isselected from the group consisting of water, carbonated water and milk.